New IndyCar chassis worry Paul Tracy

The IZOD IndyCar Series unveiled its proposed new chassis for the 2012 season on Tuesday and right on cue Paul Tracy said it should have stayed under wraps.

Tracy, who through 20 years of open wheel racing in North America has been a thorn in the side of team owners from Roger Penske to Jimmy Vasser, sided with his car-owning bosses — this time in criticising IndyCar’s decision to introduce a new car for next season.

The reason both Tracy and team owners oppose the introduction of a new chassis is simply money.

He said that this season he has battled as hard off the track as he ever did on it attempting to secure enough sponsorship dollars to run just a part-time schedule that includes this month’s Indianapolis 500, the Honda Indy race in Toronto and the Edmonton Indy.

“Bringing in this new chassis will add from $1.5 to $2 million (U.S) to each team’s budget per car,” he said. “I am thinking it’s going to be hard trying to explain to potential sponsors why the price went up so dramatically.”
There are lots of others, however, like Texas Motor Speedway promoter Eddie Gossage who feels that if the IndyCar series wants to grow it has to give fans a different look, the way NASCAR does by having four — Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and Dodge — manufacturers on the track.

“Sure it would be nice to have different chassis in the series,” Tracy said. “But to ask every team to buy all new equipment at once is a little much.”

IndyCar team owners voted unanimously last week to delay the new car until 2013 but that vote isn’t binding on the series.

Tony Cotman, who is part of the IndyCar management team that selected the new chassis design is on record as saying he opposes the team owners’ move.

Tracy was in Toronto to promote this summer’s Honda Indy Toronto and show off his No. 8 Dragon Racing Honda Dallara with sponsorship from Honda dealers and the Make-A-Wish foundation.

NEW CANUCK ON THE BLOCK

While Tracy and Alex Tagliani have been huge attractions for Canadian IndyCar racing fans for the better part of the past decade, they face a young challenger this season for the title of most popular Canuck.

James Hinchcliffe, the 24-year-old from Oakville, Ont., will get his first taste of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday when he takes part in the rookie orientation day at the two-mile oval.

It will be Hinchcliffe’s first time on an oval in an IndyCar Dallara.

In his first three races this season for Newman Haas Racing Hinchcliffe has caught everyone’s attention with a pair of Top 10 finishes.

And he’s looking forward to Thursday with the same enthusiasm that has made him a favourite among the jaded journalists who cover the sport on a regular basis.

“My first memory of the Indy 500 was when Jacques Villeneuve won the race in 1995,” he said this week. “Being Canadian it was a great day, but also a heart breaking day after what happened to Scott Goodyear.

“Canadians were running 1-2 with 11 laps to go. But at the time I was a big JV fan so I really remember that race clearly.”
Hinchcliffe also has respect for what Indianapolis represents for his sport
“The first word (I think of) is probably ‘history’; this race has so much of it,” he said.

So what would the prospect of winning at the Brickyard mean to Hinchcliffe?

“I don’t think it is really a feeling that you could put into words,” he said. “It’s the biggest race in the world so to win it is every driver’s dream. The impact of winning the Indy 500 for a driver is immeasurable.

“It’s like an actor winning the Oscar.”

FINISH LINES

Honda Canada is once again picking up the tab for the first day of the Honda Indy Toronto on July 8th. The Free Friday promotion was a big hit last season and is expected to be even moreso this year. ... According to a SportsBusiness Daily Harris poll, auto racing is a more popular spectator sport in the U.S. than the NBA, NHL and NCAA basketball. ... Another generation of Andretti’s is hitting the race track. Jarett Andretti, the son of John Andretti and grandchild of Aldo Andretti won Saturday night’s 35-lap Ford Focus Midget feature at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

It was a beatdown of monumental
proportions on Sunday when six
Chevrolets, led by the No. 2 Team
Penske Chevy of Juan Pablo Montoya,
crossed the start-finish line ahead of
the first Honda at the Verizon IndyCar
Series season opening Firestone Grand
Prix of St. Petersburg.